Conserving Biodiversity in Subdivision Development
Webinar Series

Many residential developments and rural properties are situated near or in habitats that sustain native plant and animal communities. Conserving or restoring the unique natural features inherent on every parcel of land benefits the local environment, property owners, and the regionís heritage. When land is subdivided, how does one conserve local biodiversity and minimize impacts on surrounding landscapes? Design, construction, and post-construction phases are often not discussed holistically when green developments are built.

Presented by Mark Hostetler, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida, this continuing education course is a four-module webinar series developed by the Program for Resource Efficient Communities at the University of Florida. The course is devoted to defining, recognizing, restoring, and managing residential communities for biodiversity within the urban and rural matrix. The course is available in association with American Citizen Planner and Michigan State University. It is relevant to county and city planners, landscape architects, architects, civil engineers, environmental consultants, developers, private landowners, and interested citizens.

About the Webinars

Participants in the seminar series will have access to all four 60-minute recorded webinars, and will also gain access to an online course site offering additional resources.

Each webinar will cover the following four modules:

Module 1: Key Players and Principles

Module 2: How to Do it: Design

Module 3: How to Do it: Construction

Module 4: How to Do It: Post-construction

In addition to four 60-minute recorded webinars, participants will gain access to an online course site offering additional resources. This includes an 120-page course manual available for download by participants that includes specific details and resources that are presented in each of the PowerPoint presentations.

If you have any questions about this webinar series, please call Client Services at (517) 353-3123, or contact Julie Orler at orlerj@msu.edu.

Registration and Fees

The cost of the course is $90. Continuing education credits are provided through the National American Planning Association (3.5 AICP credits).

To register, follow the link below to the Michigan State University (MSU) Non-Credit Registration System (NCRS) registration page. Once there, there are a couple of steps to complete your registration:

You will need to log-in to the system. If you do not have an account with the NCRS, you will need to make one by clicking "Create Account" in the top right-hand corner of the site and going through the account creation process. After you have been logged in to the NCRS, you should return to the webinar registration page. If it does not automatically return you to the webinar registration page, you may either use the link on this page again, or you may search the MSU NCRS by using the offering code for the webinar series which is CP-N001.

Then, to register for the webinar, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the button marked "Add to Shopping Cart" and complete the checkout process.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Mark Hostetler is an Associate Professor, Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, University of Florida. Dr. Hostetler has a bachelor’s in biology from Purdue University (1987) and his master’s (1992) and doctorate in zoology (1997) are both from University of Florida. With more than 20 years of experience in urban wildlife issues and natural resource management, Dr. Hostetler conducts research and outreach on how urban landscapes could be designed and managed, from small to large scales, to conserve biodiversity.

He has extensive experience in working with homeowners, developers, and policy makers on ways to manage and design residential developments for biodiversity. Dr. Hostetler co-founded UF’s Program for Resource Efficient Communities (PREC) and collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and graduate students. In conjunction with PREC, Dr. Hostetler is working with policy makers and developers to establish natural resource conservation strategies in communities that are billed as “green” developments. In particular, he works with planners and built environment professionals to establish management programs for conservation subdivisions.